Cineworld To Close 20 Sites In The US

Cineworld is going to close 20 sites in the United States, which is such a shame to hear. This is a result of the ongoing ‘Chapter 11’ Bankruptcy proceedings in the United States for Cineworld and their chain of Regal Cinemas. This also seems to be in Canada, and I really do wonder what’s going to happen to some of those sites.

It’s been revealed that one of those sites has already closed and 19 sites according to staff have already begun stopping presales of future ticket sales which is set to save the company £10 million ($12 million). The company is starting to find new ways to balance the books, and potentially flip underperforming sites to prospective buyers, and this is a sign of things to come in the United States.

Cineworld is going to be closing a lot of sites in the US and Canada

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It appears at these sites Cineworld will also be abandoning, “it’s personal property at the locations” which indicates that the equipment and sites are much older and therefore bringing a huge capital loss to the business. The company took a huge undertaking in reviewing its lease commitments, and it appears this is the first wave of casualties. This is all very, very bad news for the company.

Further Closures To Come?

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Sites in Las Vegas, California, North Carolina, and Texas are set to close in the coming days and rumours persist that the company is still looking at further “proposed closures”. Cineworld has already closed over 22 sites this year alone in the United States. However, there is some good news at least. The good news seems to be at least that staff are currently being offered jobs at neighbouring locations.

If no equitable plan is agreed upon in mid-October with the US Bankruptcy Court in Houston, the company will be looking at the sale as admitted by the chief restructuring officer, James Mesterharm. Cineworld was looking to gain £1.67 billion ($1.94b) in financing in exchange to debtors from the Court a few weeks ago. However, this was rejected by the judge who allowed just £683 million ($785m) to be released.

The judge also chastised the company for not focusing on paying employees over creditors in their initial plan and sent them back to the drawing board. The company is expected to try and clear a repayment of more than £875 million ($1b) of old debt at the end of October 2022.

What do you make of the news? Have you been affected? Let us know in the comments below.

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